The main types of art of sentimentalism. Literary movements and currents

Sentimentalism is not only a trend in culture and literature, it is primarily a state of mind human society at a certain stage of development, which in Europe began somewhat earlier and lasted from the 20s to the 80s of the 18th century, in Russia it occurred at the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th centuries. The main features of sentimentalism are as follows: in human nature, the primacy of feelings, not reason, is recognized.

From mind to feelings

Sentimentalism closes, which covered the entire 18th century and gave rise to a series of classicism and rococo, sentimentalism and pre-romanticism. Some experts consider romanticism to be the next direction described, and sentimentalism is identified with pre-romanticism. Each of these areas has its own characteristic distinctive features, everyone has their own normative personality, the one whose traits better than others express the trend that is optimal for a given culture. We can name some signs of sentimentalism. This is a concentration of attention on the individual, on the strength and power of feelings, the prerogative of nature over civilization.

Towards nature

What distinguishes this direction in literature from previous and subsequent movements is primarily the cult human heart. Preference is given to simplicity, naturalness, the hero of the works becomes a more democratic person, often a representative common people. Great attention is paid to the inner world of man and the nature of which he is a part. These are the signs of sentimentalism. Feelings are always freer than reason, which classicism worshiped or even deified. Therefore, sentimentalist writers had more freedom imagination and its reflection in a work that was also no longer squeezed into the strict logical framework of classicism.

New literary forms

The main ones are travel and novels, but not just, but instructive or in letters. Letters, diaries, memoirs are the most frequently used genres, as they make it possible to more widely reveal a person’s inner world. Poetry gives preference to elegy and message. That is, in themselves, also signs of sentimentalism. Pastoral cannot belong to any other direction than the one described.

In Russia, sentimentalism was reactionary and liberal. The representative of the first was Pyotr Ivanovich Shalikov (1768-1852). His works represented an idyllic utopia - infinitely kind kings sent by God to earth solely for the sake of peasant happiness. No social contradictions - good-naturedness and general goodness. Probably, thanks to such sweet and sour works, a certain tearfulness and far-fetchedness have become attached to this literary movement, which are sometimes perceived as signs of sentimentalism.

Founder of Russian sentimentalism

Prominent representatives of the liberal trend are Karamzin Nikolai Mikhailovich (1766-1826) and the early Zhukovsky Vasily Andreevich (1783-1852), these are among the famous. You can also name several progressive liberal-minded writers - A. M. Kutuzov, to whom Radishchev dedicated “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow”, M. N. Muravyov, sage and poet, poet, fabulist and translator, V. V. Kapnist and N. A. Lvov. The earliest and most striking work of this direction was Karamzin’s story “ Poor Lisa" It should be noted that the characteristics of Russia have distinctive features from Europe. The main thing is the instructive, moral and educational nature of the works. Karamzin said that you need to write the way you speak. Thus, another feature of Russian sentimentalism is the improvement literary language works. I would like to note that a positive achievement or even discovery of this literary movement is that it was the first to turn to the spiritual world of people of the lower classes, revealing its wealth and generosity of soul. Before the sentimentalists, poor people, as a rule, were shown to be rude, callous, and incapable of any spirituality.

“Poor Liza” - the pinnacle of Russian sentimentalism

What are the signs of sentimentalism in “Poor Liza”? The plot of the story is simple. That's not the beauty of it. The very idea of ​​the work conveys to the reader the fact that the natural naturalness and rich world of Liza, a simple peasant woman, is incomparably higher than the world of the well-educated, secular, well-trained Erast, in general, and a good person, but squeezed by the framework of conventions that did not allow him to marry beloved girl. But he did not even think about getting married, because, having achieved reciprocity, Erast, full of prejudices, lost interest in Lisa, she ceased to be for him the personification of purity and purity. A poor peasant girl, even full of merit, having trusted a rich young man who condescended to a commoner (which should speak of the breadth of her soul and democratic views), is initially doomed to the final run to the pond. But the dignity of the story is in a completely different approach and perspective of the rather banal events covered. It is precisely the signs of sentimentalism in “Poor Liza” (the beauty of the soul common man and nature, the cult of love) made the story incredibly popular among contemporaries. And the pond in which Lisa drowned began to be called after her (the place in the story is indicated quite accurately). The fact that the story became an event is also evidenced by the fact that even among current graduates of Soviet schools, almost everyone knows that “Poor Liza” was written by Karamzin, like “Eugene Onegin” by Pushkin, and “Mtsyri” by Lermontov.

Originally from France

Sentimentalism itself is a more significant phenomenon in fiction than classicism with its rationalism and dryness, with its heroes, who, as a rule, were crowned heads or generals. "Julia, or the New Heloise" by Jean-Jacques Rousseau burst into fiction and laid the foundations for a new direction. Already in the works of the founder of the movement appeared general signs sentimentalism in literature, forming a new artistic system that glorified the simple person, capable of empathizing with others without any selfishness, endlessly loving loved ones, and sincerely rejoicing in the happiness of others.

Similarities and differences

And sentimentalism largely coincides, because both of these movements belong to the Age of Enlightenment, but they also have differences. Classicism glorifies and deifies reason, and sentimentalism - feeling. The main slogans of these directions also differ: in classicism it is “a person subject to the dictates of reason”; in sentimentalism it is “a feeling person”. The forms of writing also differ - the logic and rigor of the classicists, and the works of authors of a later literary movement, rich in digressions, descriptions, memories and letters. Based on the above, we can answer the question of what are the main features of sentimentalism. The main theme of the works is love. Specific genres - pastoral (elegy), sentimental story, letters and travel. In the works there is a cult of feelings and nature, a departure from straightforwardness.

The main features of Russian sentimentalism.

Sentimentalism in Russian literature.

Sentimentalism penetrated into Russia in the 1780s and early 1790s thanks to translations of the novels “Werther” by J.V. Goethe, “Pamela,” “Clarissa” and “Grandison” by S. Richardson, “The New Heloise” by J.-J. Rousseau, "Paul and Virginie" by J.-A. Bernardin de Saint-Pierre. The era of Russian sentimentalism was opened by Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin with “Letters of a Russian Traveler” (1791–1792).

His story "Poor Liza" (1792) is a masterpiece of Russian sentimental prose; from Goethe's Werther he inherited a general atmosphere of sensitivity, melancholy and the theme of suicide.

The works of N.M. Karamzin gave rise to a huge number of imitations; at the beginning of the 19th century appeared "Poor Masha" by A.E. Izmailov (1801), "Journey to Midday Russia" (1802), "Henrietta or the Triumph of Deception over Weakness or Delusion" by I. Svechinsky (1802), numerous stories by G.P. Kamenev ( “The Story of Poor Marya”; “Unhappy Margarita”; “Beautiful Tatiana”), etc.

Ivan Ivanovich Dmitriev belonged to Karamzin’s group, which advocated the creation of a new poetic language and fought against the archaic pompous style and outdated genres.

Marked by sentimentalism early work Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky. The publication in 1802 of a translation of Elegy written in the rural cemetery of E. Gray became a phenomenon in artistic life Russia, because he translated the poem “into the language of sentimentalism in general, translated the genre of elegy, and not an individual work English poet͵ having its own special individual styleʼʼ (E.G. Etkind). In 1809 Zhukovsky wrote sentimental story"Maryina Grove" in the spirit of N.M. Karamzin.

Russian sentimentalism had exhausted itself by 1820.

It was one of the stages of the pan-European literary development, which ended the Age of Enlightenment and opened the way to romanticism.

• moving away from the straightforwardness of classicism
• emphasized subjectivity of approach to the world
• cult of feeling
• cult of nature
• cult of innate moral purity, innocence
• statement of the rich spiritual world representatives of the lower classes
• attention is paid to the spiritual world of a person, and feelings come first, not reason and great ideas

Sentimentalism (from the French sentiment - feeling) - a movement in literature and art of the second half of the XVIII century, characterized by an increased interest in human feelings and acute emotional attitude to the surrounding world. (" Sentimental Journey in France and Italy by Stern, “The New Heloise” by Rousseau, “Poor Liza” by Karamzin). The innovation of sentimentalism lies in its exclusive attention to state of mind personality and appeal to the experiences of a simple, ignorant person. Karamzin owns noteworthy in this regard words: “...And peasant women know how to love” (“Poor Liza”). Others argued that a commoner, close to nature, not perverted by aristocratic prejudices, is morally superior to any nobleman.

Classicism.

Sentimentalism

Romanticism

Satirical poetry of Antioch Dmitrievich Kantemir. Problems of the satire “On those who blaspheme the teaching, To their own minds.” The personality and significance of Cantemir’s creativity in essays and critical articles N.I.Novikov, N.M.Karamzin K.N.Batyushkov, V.G.Belinsky.

Antioch Dmitrievich Kantemir was one of the first Russian writers to realize that he was a writer. Although literature was not at all the main thing in his life. The poet, who opens the first page of the history of Russian book poetry, was an extraordinary person, an educated, multi-talented person. He greatly raised the prestige of Russia in the West, where for the last twelve years of his life he served as Russia's diplomatic representative in embassies - first in England and then in France. He had an impeccable command of thought and word: the dispatches he sent were always clearly and skillfully composed. he was a famous person in Russia. His epigrams and love songs were extremely successful. He worked in the genre of scientific translation and had already written five of his nine poetic satires. During the years of service in France, he finally established himself in advanced educational views. He was convinced that only “merit”, and not class and family affiliation, distinguishes one person from another. “The same blood flows in both free and slaves, the same flesh, the same bones!” he wrote, insisting on the “natural equality” of people. Kantemir always remained a citizen of Russia: what he acquired, or, as he put it, “adopted” from the French, was supposed to serve his fatherland. With characteristic modesty he wrote:

What Horace gave, he borrowed from the Frenchman.

Oh, if my muse is poor in appearance.

Yes it is true; Though the limits of the mind are narrow,

What he took in Gallic, he paid in Russian.
And yet, Kantemir is, first of all, a national poet, who has the task of turning to the image of real Russian life. According to Belinsky, he was able to “connect poetry with life”, “write not only in the Russian language, but also with the Russian mind.” By the way, it should be noted here that Princess Praskovya Trubetskaya, who wrote songs in the folk spirit, was in close friendship with the Kantemirov family; Perhaps it was she who was the author of the most popular song in those distant times, “Ah, my bitter light of my youth.” Not only the famous "Poetics" French poet and the theorist Boileau, not only educational studies, but the living lyrical element of folk song, making its way into the book poetry of the beginning of the century, determined the formation artistic manner Cantemira.
Analysis of the satire by Antiochus Cantemir “On those who blaspheme the teachings of their minds.” This is Cantemir's first satire; he wrote it in 1729. The satire was originally written not for the purpose of publication, but for oneself. But through friends she came to the Novgorod Archbishop Theophan, who gave impetus to the continuation of this cycle of satires.
Cantermere himself defines this satire as a mockery of the ignorant and despisers of science. At that time this question was very relevant. As soon as education became accessible to people, colleges and universities were established. This was a qualitative step in the field of science. And any qualitative step is, if not a revolution, then a reform. And no wonder it caused so much controversy. The author turns, as the title suggests, to his own mind, calling it “immature mind,” because The satire was written by him when he was twenty, that is, still quite immature by those standards. Everyone strives for fame, and achieving it through science is the most difficult. The author uses the 9 muses and Apollo as an image of the sciences that make the road to glory difficult. It is possible to achieve fame, even if you are not considered a creator. There are many paths leading to it, easy in our age, on which the brave will not falter; The most unpleasant thing of all is that the barefoot cursed the Nine Sisters. Next, 4 characters appear in turn in the satire: Crito, Silvanus, Luke and Medor. Each of them condemns science and explains its uselessness in their own way. Crito believes that those who are interested in science want to understand the reasons for everything that happens. And this is bad, because... they depart from faith in the Holy Scriptures. And indeed, in his opinion, science is harmful, you just have to blindly believe.
The schisms and heresies of science are children; Those who are given more understanding lie more; Whoever melts over a book comes to godlessness... Silvan is a stingy nobleman. He doesn't understand the monetary benefits of science, so he doesn't need it. For him, only what can bring him specific benefit has value. But science cannot provide him with this. He lived without her, and he will live like that again! It makes sense to divide the land into quarters without Euclid, How many kopecks are in a ruble - we can calculate without algebra Luka is a drunkard. In his opinion, science divides people, because It’s not his job to sit alone over books, which he even calls “dead friends.” He praises wine as a source Have a good mood and other benefits and says that he will exchange the glass for a book only if time runs back, stars appear on earth, etc. When the reins of plows begin to be driven across the sky, And the stars begin to peep out from the surface of the earth, When in Lent the monk begins to eat the elm, - Then, leaving the glass, I will begin to read the book. Medor is a dandy and a dandy. He is offended that the paper with which hair was curled at that time is spent on books. For him, the famous tailor and shoemaker are much more important than Virgil and Cicero. ...too much paper goes out for writing, for printing books, but it comes to him that there is nothing to wrap his curled curls in; He will not exchange a pound of good powder for Seneca. The author draws attention to the fact that all deeds have two possible motives: benefit and praise. And there is an opinion that if science brings neither one nor the other, then why bother with it? People are not used to the fact that it could be otherwise, that virtue in itself is valuable. ...When there is no benefit, praise encourages labor, but without that the heart becomes depressed. Not everyone loves true beauty, that is, science. But anyone, having barely learned anything, demands a promotion or other status.

For example, a soldier, having barely learned to sign, wants to command a regiment. The author laments that the time when wisdom was valued has passed. The time has not come to us in which wisdom presided over everything and the crowns alone shared, Being the only way to the highest sunrise.

Belinsky said that Cantemir would outlive many literary celebrities, classical and romantic. In an article about Kantemir, Belinsky wrote: “Kantemir not so much begins the history of Russian literature as ends the period of Russian writing. Cantemir wrote in so-called syllabic verses, a meter that is completely unusual for the Russian language; this size existed in Rus' long before Cantemir... Cantemir began history secular literature. That’s why everyone, rightly considering Lomonosov the father of Russian literature, at the same time, not entirely without reason, begins its history with Kantemir.”
Karamzin remarked: “His satires were the first experience of Russian wit and style.”

6. The role of Vasily Kirillovich Trediakovsky, M.V. Lomonosov, A.P. Sumarokov in the formation aesthetic principles, genre-stylistic system of Russian classicism, in the transformation of versification.

Trediakovsky in 1735 published “A New and Brief Method for Composing Russian Poems,” proposing a way to organize syllabic 13- and 11-syllables and giving examples of poems of different genres composed in a new way. The need for such ordering was dictated by the need to more clearly contrast poetry with prose.
Trediakovsky acted as a reformer, not indifferent to the experience of his predecessors. Lomonosov went further. In his “Letter on the Rules of Russian Poetry” (1739), he categorically declared that “our poetry is just beginning,” thereby ignoring the almost century-old tradition of syllabic poetry. He, unlike Trediakovsky, allowed not only two-syllable, but also three-syllable and “mixed” meters (iambo-anapaests and dactylo-trochees), not only female rhymes, but also masculine and dactylic ones, and advised sticking to the iambic as a meter appropriate for tall objects and important (the letter was accompanied by “Ode... for the capture of Khotin, 1739,” written in iambics). The predominance of "trochaic rhythms" in folk songs and book poetry of the 17th century, which Trediakovsky pointed out, thinking that “our ear” was “applied” to them, Lomonosov was not embarrassed, since it was necessary to start with clean slate. The pathos of an uncompromising break with tradition corresponded to the spirit of the time, and Lomonosov’s iambics themselves sounded completely new and were as opposed to prose as possible. The problem of stylistic demarcation from church bookishness has been relegated to the background. New literature and syllabic-tonic poetry became almost synonymous concepts.
Trediakovsky eventually accepted Lomonosov’s ideas, in 1752 he published a whole treatise on syllabic-tonic versification (“A method for adding Russian poetry, corrected and multiplied against that published in 1735”) and in practice conscientiously experimented with different meters and sizes. Lomonosov, in practice, wrote almost exclusively in iambics, which, in his opinion, are the only ones suitable for high genres (his classification of high, “mediocre” and low genres and “calms” is set out in the “Preface on the Use of Church Books in the Russian Language,” 1757).
Trediakovsky and Lomonosov, who studied at the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy, were connected by many threads with pre-Petrine bookishness and church scholarship. Sumarokov, nobleman, pupil of the Land Gentry cadet corps, shunned her. His literary knowledge, sympathies and interests were associated with French classicism. The leading genre in France was tragedy, and in Sumarokov’s work it became the main genre. Here his priority was undeniable. The first Russian classical tragedies belong to him: "Khorev" (1747), "Hamlet" (1747), "Sinav and Truvor" (1750), etc. Sumarokov also owns the first comedies - "Tresotinus", "Monsters" (both 1750) and etc. True, these were “low” comedies, written in prose and were a lampoon on people (in the mentioned comedies Trediakovsky is ridiculed). That. Sumarokov rightfully claimed the titles of “northern Racine” and “Russian Moliere”, and in 1756 it was he who would be appointed the first director of the first permanent theater in Russia, created by F.G. Volkov. But Sumarokov could not be satisfied with the status of a playwright and theater figure. He laid claim to a leading and leading position in literature (to the considerable irritation of his older fellow writers). His "Two Epistles" (1748) - "On the Russian Language" and "On Poetry" - should have received a status similar to that of " Poetic art"Boileau in Literature French classicism(in 1774, an abridged version of them would be published under the title “Instructions for those who want to be writers”). Sumarokov’s ambitions also explain the genre universalism of his work. He tested his strength in almost all classical genres(only the epic didn’t work out for him). As the author of didactic epistles on poetry and poetic satires, he was the “Russian Boileau”; as the author of “parables” (i.e. fables), he was the “Russian Lafontaine”, etc.
However, Sumarokov pursued educational rather than aesthetic goals. He dreamed of being a mentor to the nobility and an adviser to an “enlightened monarch” (like Voltaire under Frederick II). He viewed his literary activity as socially useful. His tragedies were a school of civic virtue for the monarch and his subjects, in comedies, satires and parables, vices were scourged (the rhyme “Sumarokov is the scourge of vices” generally became generally accepted), elegies and eclogues taught “loyalty and tenderness”, spiritual odes (Sumarokov transcribed the entire Psalter) and philosophical poems taught in reasonable concepts about religion, in the “Two Epistles” the rules of poetry were proposed, etc. In addition, Sumarokov became the publisher of the first literary magazine in Russia, “The Hardworking Bee” (1759) (it was also the first private magazine).
In general, the literature of Russian classicism is characterized by the pathos of public service (which makes it similar to the literature of Peter the Great’s time). Instilling “private” virtues in citizens was her second task, and the first was promoting the achievements of the “regular state” “created” by Peter and denouncing his opponents. That is why this new literature begins with satires and odes. Kantemir ridicules the champions of antiquity, Lomonosov admires the successes of the new Russia. They defend one cause - “the cause of Peter.”
Read publicly on special occasions in huge halls, in the special theatrical setting of the imperial court, the ode should “thunder” and amaze the imagination. She could best glorify the “cause of Peter” and the greatness of the empire, the best way corresponded to propaganda purposes. Therefore, it was the solemn ode (and not the tragedy, as in France, or the epic poem) that became the main genre in Russian XVIII literature century. This is one of the distinctive features"Russian classicism". Others are rooted in the Old Russian language he demonstratively rejected, i.e. church tradition (which makes “Russian classicism” an organic phenomenon of Russian culture).
Russian classicism developed under the influence of the European Enlightenment, but its ideas were rethought. For example, the most important of them is the idea of ​​“natural”, natural equality of all people. In France, under this slogan there was a struggle for the rights of the third estate. And Sumarokov and other Russians writers XVIII c., based on the same idea, they teach the nobles to be worthy of their title and not to stain the “class honor”, ​​since fate has elevated them above people equal to them by nature.

Romantic poem in the works of Ryleev. “Voinarovsky” - composition, principles of character creation, specifics of a romantic conflict, correlation between the destinies of the hero and the author. The dispute between History and Poetry in “Voinarovsky”.

The originality of Decembrist poetry was most fully manifested in the work of Kondraty Fedorovich Ryleev (1795-1826). He created “effective poetry, poetry of the highest intensity, heroic pathos” (39).

Among lyrical works Ryleev’s most famous poem was, and perhaps still is, “Citizen” (1824), banned at one time, but distributed illegally and well known to readers. This work is a fundamental success for Ryleev the poet, perhaps even the pinnacle of Decembrist lyricism in general. The poem creates an image of a new lyrical hero:

Kondraty Fedorovich Ryleev is one of the founders and classics of Russian revolutionary civil poetry, inspired by the advanced social movement and hostile to autocracy. He more fully expressed the Decembrist worldview in poetry than others and developed the main themes of Decembrism. Ryleev's works reflected the most important moments in the history of the Decembrist movement in its most significant period - between 1820-1825.

The name of Ryleev in our minds is surrounded by an aura of martyrdom and heroism. The charm of his personality as a fighter and revolutionary who died for his beliefs is so great that for many it seemed to obscure aesthetic originality his creativity. Tradition has preserved the image of Ryleev that was created by his friends and followers, first in the memoirs of N. Bestuzhev, then in the articles of Ogarev and Herzen.

The search for ways to actively influence society led Ryleev to the genre of the poem. Ryleev’s first poem was the poem “Voinarovsky” (1823-1824). The poem has much in common with “Dumas,” but there is also a fundamental novelty: in “Voinarovsky” Ryleev strives for authentic historical flavor, truthfulness psychological characteristics. Ryleev created a new hero: disappointed, but not in worldly and secular pleasures, not in love or glory, Ryleev’s hero is a victim of fate, which did not allow him to realize his powerful life potential. Resentment towards fate, towards the ideal of a heroic life that did not take place, alienates Ryleev’s hero from those around him, turning him into a tragic figure. The tragedy of the incompleteness of life, its unrealization in real actions and events will become important discovery not only in Decembrist poetry, but also in Russian literature in general.

“Voinarovsky” is the only completed poem by Ryleev, although besides it he began several more: “Nalivaiko”, “Gaydamak”, “Paley”. “It so happened,” the researchers write, “that Ryleev’s poems were not only propaganda of Decembrism in literature, but also a poetic biography of the Decembrists themselves, including the December defeat and years of hard labor. Reading the poem about Voinarovsky, the Decembrists involuntarily thought about themselves<…>Ryleev's poem was perceived both as a poem of a heroic deed and as a poem of tragic forebodings. The fate of a political exile thrown into distant Siberia, a meeting with his civilian wife - all this is almost a prediction” (43). Ryleev’s readers were especially struck by his prediction in “Nalivaika’s Confession” from the poem “Nalivaiko”:

<…>I know: destruction awaits

The one who rises first

On the oppressors of the people, -

Fate has already doomed me.

But where, tell me, when was it

Freedom redeemed without sacrifice?

I will die for my native land, -

I feel it, I know...

And joyfully holy father,

I bless my lot!<…> (44)

The fulfilled prophecies of Ryleev’s poetry once again prove the fruitfulness of the romantic principle “life and poetry are one.”

Classicism.

Classicism is based on the ideas of rationalism. Piece of art, from the point of view of classicism, should be built on the basis of strict canons, thereby revealing the harmony and logic of the universe itself. Classicism is interested only in the eternal, the unchangeable - in every phenomenon it strives to recognize only the essential, typological features, discarding random individual characteristics. The aesthetics of classicism attaches great importance to the social and educational function of art. Classicism takes many rules and canons from ancient art (Aristotle, Horace).
Classicism establishes a strict hierarchy of genres, which are divided into high (ode, tragedy, epic) and low (comedy, satire, fable). Each genre has strictly defined characteristics, the mixing of which is not allowed.
How certain direction classicism was formed in France in the 17th century.
In Russia, classicism originated in the 18th century, after the reforms of Peter I. Lomonosov carried out a reform of Russian verse, developed the theory of “three calms,” which was essentially an adaptation of French classical rules to the Russian language. The images in classicism are devoid of individual features, since they are designed primarily to capture stable generic characteristics that do not pass over time, acting as the embodiment of any social or spiritual forces.

Classicism in Russia developed under the great influence of the Enlightenment - the ideas of equality and justice have always been the focus of attention of Russian classic writers. Therefore, in Russian classicism we got great development genres requiring mandatory author's assessment historical reality: comedy (D. I. Fonvizin), satire (A. D. Kantemir), fable (A. P. Sumarokov, I. I. Khemnitser), ode (Lomonosov, G. R. Derzhavin).

Sentimentalism- state of mind in Western European and Russian culture and the corresponding literary direction. Works written in this genre are based on the reader's feelings. In Europe it existed from the 20s to the 80s of the 18th century, in Russia - from late XVIII before early XIX century.
Dominant " human nature“Sentimentalism declared feeling, not reason, which distinguished it from classicism. Without breaking with the Enlightenment, sentimentalism remained faithful to the ideal of a normative personality, however, the condition for its implementation was not the “reasonable” reorganization of the world, but the release and improvement of “natural” feelings. The hero of educational literature in sentimentalism is more individualized, his inner world is enriched by the ability to empathize and sensitively respond to what is happening around him. By origin (or by conviction) the sentimentalist hero is a democrat; the rich spiritual world of the common people is one of the main discoveries and conquests of sentimentalism.
Sentimentalism in Russian literature

Nikolai Karamzin "Poor Liza"

Sentimentalism penetrated into Russia in the 1780s and early 1790s thanks to the translations of the novels of Werther by J.W. Goethe, Pamela, Clarissa and Grandison by S. Richardson, New Heloise by J.-J. Rousseau, Paul and Virginie J.-A. Bernardin de Saint-Pierre. The era of Russian sentimentalism was opened by Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin with “Letters of a Russian Traveler” (1791–1792).

His story "Poor Liza" (1792) is a masterpiece of Russian sentimental prose; from Goethe's Werther he inherited a general atmosphere of sensitivity and melancholy and the theme of suicide.
The works of N.M. Karamzin gave rise to a huge number of imitations; at the beginning of the 19th century appeared "Poor Masha" by A.E. Izmailov (1801), "Journey to Midday Russia" (1802), "Henrietta, or the Triumph of Deception over Weakness or Delusion" by I. Svechinsky (1802), numerous stories by G.P. Kamenev ( “The Story of Poor Marya”; “Unhappy Margarita”; “Beautiful Tatiana”), etc.

Ivan Ivanovich Dmitriev belonged to Karamzin’s group, which advocated the creation of a new poetic language and fought against the archaic pompous style and outdated genres.

Sentimentalism marked the early work of Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky. The publication in 1802 of a translation of Elegy, written in a rural cemetery by E. Gray, became a phenomenon in the artistic life of Russia, for he translated the poem “into the language of sentimentalism in general, translated the genre of elegy, and not an individual work of an English poet, which has its own special individual style” (E. G. Etkind). In 1809, Zhukovsky wrote a sentimental story “Maryina Roshcha” in the spirit of N.M. Karamzin.

Russian sentimentalism had exhausted itself by 1820.

It was one of the stages of pan-European literary development, which completed the Age of Enlightenment and opened the way to romanticism.

Main features of the literature of sentimentalism

So, taking into account all of the above, we can identify several main features of Russian literature of sentimentalism: a departure from the straightforwardness of classicism, an emphasized subjectivity of the approach to the world, a cult of feelings, a cult of nature, a cult of innate moral purity, innocence, the rich spiritual world of representatives of the lower classes is affirmed. Attention is paid to the spiritual world of a person, and feelings come first, not great ideas.
Romanticism- phenomenon European culture V XVIII-XIX centuries, representing a reaction to the Enlightenment and stimulated by it scientific and technical progress; ideological and artistic direction in European and American culture of the late 18th century - the first half of the 19th century century. It is characterized by the affirmation of the intrinsic value of the spiritual and creative life of the individual, the depiction of strong (often rebellious) passions and characters, spiritual and healing nature. Spread to various areas human activity. In the 18th century, everything strange, fantastic, picturesque and existing in books and not in reality was called romantic. At the beginning of the 19th century, romanticism became the designation of a new direction, opposite to classicism and the Enlightenment.
Romanticism in Russian literature

It is usually believed that in Russia romanticism appears in the poetry of V. A. Zhukovsky (although some Russians often refer to the pre-romantic movement that developed from sentimentalism poetic works 1790-1800s). In Russian romanticism, freedom from classical conventions appears, a ballad is created, romantic drama. A new idea is being established about the essence and meaning of poetry, which is recognized as an independent sphere of life, an expression of the highest, ideal aspirations of man; the old view, according to which poetry seemed to be empty fun, something completely serviceable, turns out to be no longer possible.

The early poetry of A. S. Pushkin also developed within the framework of romanticism. The poetry of M. Yu. Lermontov, the “Russian Byron,” can be considered the pinnacle of Russian romanticism. The philosophical lyrics of F. I. Tyutchev are both the completion and overcoming of romanticism in Russia.

Sentimentalism (from French. sentiment- feeling) arose during the Enlightenment in England in mid-18th century V. during the period of the decomposition of feudal absolutism, class-serf relations, the growth of bourgeois relations, and therefore the beginning of the liberation of the individual from the shackles of the feudal-serf state.

Representatives of sentimentalism

England. L. Stern (novel "A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy"), O. Goldsmith (novel "The Priest of Wakefield"), S. Richardson (novel "Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded", novel "Clarissa Garlow", "The History of Sir Charles" Grandison").

France. J.-J. Rousseau (novel in letters "Julia, or New Heloise", "Confession"), P. O. Beaumarchais (comedies " Barber of Seville", "The Marriage of Figaro").

Germany. J. W. Goethe ( sentimental novel"Suffering young Werther"), A. Lafontaine (family novels).

Sentimentalism expressed the worldview, psychology, and tastes of the broad strata conservative nobility and the bourgeoisie (the so-called third estate), thirsting for freedom, a natural manifestation of feelings that demanded consideration of human dignity.

Traits of Sentimentalism

The cult of feeling, natural feeling, not spoiled by civilization (Rousseau asserted the decisive superiority of simple, natural, “natural” life over civilization); denial of abstraction, abstraction, conventionality, dryness of classicism. Compared to classicism, sentimentalism was a more progressive direction, because it contained tangible elements of realism associated with the depiction of human emotions, experiences, expansion inner world person. Philosophical basis sentimentalism becomes sensationalism (from lat. sensus– feeling, sensation), one of the founders of which was the English philosopher J. Locke, who recognized the only source cognition sensation, sensory perception.

If classicism affirmed the idea of ​​an ideal state governed by an enlightened monarch, and demanded that the interests of the individual be subordinated to the state, then sentimentalism put in the first place not a person in general, but a specific, private person in all the uniqueness of his individual personality. At the same time, the value of a person was determined not by his high origin, not by his property status, not by class, but by his personal merits. Sentimentalism first raised the question of individual rights.

Were heroes simple people- nobles, artisans, peasants who lived mainly by feelings, passions, and heart. Sentimentalism opened up the rich spiritual world of the common people. In some works of sentimentalism sounded protest against social injustice, against the humiliation of the “little man”.

Sentimentalism gave literature a democratic character in many ways.

Since sentimentalism proclaimed the writer’s right to express his author’s individuality in art, genres emerged in sentimentalism that contributed to the expression of the author’s “I”, which means that the first-person form of narration was used: diary, confession, autobiographical memoirs, travel (travel notes, notes, impressions ). In sentimentalism, poetry and drama are replaced by prose, which has a greater opportunity to convey complex world emotional experiences person, in connection with which new genres arose: family, everyday and psychological novel in the form of correspondence, “philistine drama”, “sensitive” story, “bourgeois tragedy”, “ tearful comedy"; the genres of intimate, chamber lyrics (idyll, elegy, romance, madrigal, song, message), as well as fable, flourished.

A mixture of high and low, tragic and comic, a mixture of genres was allowed; the law of “three unities” was overthrown (for example, the range of phenomena of reality expanded significantly).

Ordinary, everyday family life was depicted; the main theme was love; the plot was based on situations in the everyday life of private individuals; the composition of works of sentimentalism was arbitrary.

The cult of nature was proclaimed. The landscape was a favorite backdrop for events; the peaceful, idyllic life of a person was shown in the bosom of rural nature, while nature was depicted in close connection with the experiences of the hero or the author himself, and was in tune with personal experience. The village, as the center of natural life and moral purity, was sharply contrasted with the city as a symbol of evil, artificial life, bustle.

The language of the works of sentimentalism was simple, lyrical, sometimes sensitively elated, emphatically emotional; such poetic means, as exclamations, addresses, affectionate diminutive suffixes, comparisons, epithets, interjections; Blank verse was used. In the works of sentimentalism, there is a further convergence of literary language with living, colloquial speech.

Features of Russian sentimentalism

In Russia, sentimentalism is established in last decade XVIII century and fades away after 1812, during the development of the revolutionary movement of the future Decembrists.

Russian sentimentalism idealized the patriarchal way of life, the life of the serf village and criticized bourgeois morals.

The peculiarity of Russian sentimentalism is a didactic, educational orientation towards raising a worthy citizen. Sentimentalism in Russia is represented by two movements:

• 1. Sentimental-romantic – Η. M. Karamzin ("Letters of a Russian Traveler", the story "Poor Liza"), M. N. Muravyov (sentimental poems), I. I. Dmitriev (fables, lyrical songs, poetic tales“Fashionable Wife”, “Freakish Woman”), F. A. Emin (novel “Letters from Ernest and Doravra”), V. I. Lukin (comedy “The Sprawler, Corrected by Love”).
• 2. Sentimental-realistic – A. II. Radishchev ("Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow").

1.Sentimentalism(French sentimentalisme, from English sentimental, French sentiment - feeling) - a state of mind in Western European and Russian culture and the corresponding literary direction. Works written in this genre are based on the reader's feelings. In Europe it existed from the 20s to the 80s of the 18th century, in Russia - from the end of the 18th to the beginning of the 19th century.

If classicism is reason, duty, then sentimentalism is something lighter, these are the feelings of a person, his experiences.

The main theme of sentimentalism- love.

Main features of sentimentalism:

Avoiding straightness

Multifaceted characters, subjective approach to the world

Cult of feeling

Cult of nature

Revival of one's own purity

Affirmation of the rich spiritual world of the low classes

The main genres of sentimentalism:

Sentimental story

Trips

Idyll or pastoral

Letters of a personal nature

Ideological basis- protest against the corruption of aristocratic society

The main property of sentimentalism- the desire to imagine the human personality in the movement of the soul, thoughts, feelings, the disclosure of the inner world of man through the state of nature

The aesthetics of sentimentalism is based- imitation of nature

Features of Russian sentimentalism:

Strong didactic setting

Educational character

Active improvement of the literary language through the introduction of literary forms into it

Representatives of sentimentalism:

Lawrence Stan Richardson - England

Jean Jacques Rousseau - France

M.N. Muravyov - Russia

N.M. Karamzin - Russia

V.V. Kapnist - Russia

ON THE. Lviv - Russia

Young V.A. Zhukovsky was a sentimentalist for a short time.

2.Biography of Rousseau

The most pressing problems of the 18th century were socio-political. Man interested thinkers as a social and moral being, aware of his freedom, capable of fighting for it and decent life . If previously it was mainly representatives of privileged social groups who could afford to philosophize, now the voices of low-income and disadvantaged people who reject the established social order have become increasingly louder. One of them was Jean Jacques Rousseau. The predominant theme of his works: the origin of social inequality and overcoming it. Jean Jacques was born in Geneva, into the family of a watchmaker. Musical abilities, thirst for knowledge and desire for fame led him to Paris in 1741. Lacking a systematic education and influential acquaintances, he did not immediately achieve recognition. He brought a new system of notation to the Paris Academy, but his proposal was rejected (he later wrote a comic opera, The Village Sorcerer). While collaborating on the famous “Encyclopedia”, he enriched himself with knowledge and at the same time - unlike other educators - he doubted that scientific and technological progress brings only good to people. Civilization, in his opinion, exacerbates inequality between people. Both science and technology are good only if they are based on high morality, noble feelings and admiration for nature. "Progressives" sharply criticized Rousseau for this position. (Only at the end of the 20th century did it become clear how true it was.) During his life, he was both praised and condemned, and persecuted. He hid for some time in Switzerland, and died in solitude and poverty. His major philosophical works: “Discourses on the Sciences and Arts”, “Discourses on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality between People”, “On the Social Contract, or Principles of Political Law”. From philosophical and artistic works: “Julia, or New Heloise”, “Confession”. For Rousseau, the path of civilization is the consistent enslavement of man. With the advent of private property and the desire to have as much material wealth as possible, “labor became inevitable, and vast forests turned into cheerful fields that needed to be watered by human sweat and on which slavery and poverty soon rose and blossomed along with the crops. This great revolution was made by invention "two arts: metalworking and agriculture. In the eyes of the poet, gold and silver, in the eyes of the philosopher, iron and bread civilized people and destroyed the human race." With extraordinary insight, like an outside observer, he drew attention to two fundamental vices of civilization: the creation of ever new needs that are unnecessary for normal life and the formation of an artificial personality that tries to “appear” and not “be.” In contrast to Hobbes (and in accordance with historical truth), Rousseau believed that the state of discord and war in society increased as inequality of wealth, competition and the desire to enrich themselves at the expense of others increased. State power, according to the social contract, was supposed to become the guarantor of security and justice. But it created a new form of dependence between the powerful and the subordinate. If a given state system deceives the people's expectations and does not fulfill its obligations, then the people have the right to overthrow it. Rousseau's thoughts inspired revolutionaries in different countries, especially France. His "Social Contract" became Robespierre's reference book. In those years, few people paid attention to the philosopher’s serious warning: “Peoples! Know once and for all that nature wanted to protect you from science, just as a mother snatches a dangerous weapon from the hands of her child. All the secrets she hides from you are evil.” .

3. Relationship with Voltaire

Added to this was a quarrel with Voltaire and with the government party in Geneva. Rousseau once called Voltaire “touching,” but in fact there could not be a greater contrast than between these two writers. The antagonism between them appeared in 1755, when Voltaire, on the occasion of the terrible Lisbon earthquake, renounced optimism, and Rousseau stood up for Providence. Sated with glory and living in luxury, Voltaire, according to Rousseau, sees only grief on earth; he, unknown and poor, finds that everything is fine.

Relations became strained when Rousseau, in his “Letter on Spectacles,” strongly rebelled against the introduction of theater in Geneva. Voltaire, who lived near Geneva and, through his home theater in Fernes, developed a taste for dramatic performances among the Genevans, realized that the letter was directed against him and against his influence on Geneva. Unlimited in his anger, Voltaire hated Rousseau and either mocked his ideas and writings or made him look like a madman.

The controversy between them especially flared up when Rousseau was banned from entering Geneva, which he attributed to the influence of Voltaire. Finally, Voltaire published an anonymous pamphlet, accusing Rousseau of intending to overthrow the Genevan constitution and Christianity and claiming that he had killed Teresa's mother.

The peaceful villagers of Motiers became agitated; Rousseau began to be subjected to insults and threats; the local pastor preached a sermon against him. One autumn night, a whole rain of stones fell on his house.

Sentimentalism originated in the late 20s. 18th century in England, remaining in the 20s-50s. closely associated with Enlightenment classicism and with the Enlightenment novel of Richardson's sentimentalism. French sentimentalism reaches its full development in the epistolary novel by J. J. Rousseau “The New Heloise.” The subjective-emotional nature of the letters was an innovation in French literature.

The novel "Julia, or the New Heloise":

1) Tendency of the work.

First published in Holland in 1761, the novel "Julia, or the New Heloise" has the subtitle: "Letters of two lovers living in a small town at the foot of the Alps." And something else is said on the title page: “Collected and published by Jean-Jacques Rousseau.” The purpose of this simple hoax is to create the illusion of complete authenticity of the story. Posing himself as a publisher, and not as a writer, Rousseau provides some pages with footnotes (164 in total), with which he argues with his heroes, recording their errors as a result of stormy experiences of love, and corrects their views on issues of morality, art, and poetry. In the shell of soft irony, the height of objectivity: the author supposedly has nothing in common with the characters in the novel, he is only an observer, an impartial judge standing above them. And at first, Rousseau achieved his goal: he was asked whether these letters were really found, whether it was true or fiction, although he himself gave himself away as the epigraph to the novel and verse by Petrarch. "The New Heloise" consists of 163 letters, divided into six parts. There are relatively few episodes in the novel compared to the huge superstructure, which consists of lengthy discussions on a variety of topics: about a duel, about suicide, about whether a wealthy woman can help the man she loves with money, about the household and the structure of society, about religion and helping the poor , about raising children, about opera and dancing. Rousseau's novel is filled with maxims, instructive aphorisms, and, in addition, there are too many tears and sighs, kisses and hugs, unnecessary complaints and inappropriate sympathy. In the 18th century it was loved, at least in certain circles; It seems old-fashioned and often funny to us today. To read from beginning to end "The New Heloise" with all the deviations from the plot, you need to have a fair dose of patience, but Rousseau's book is distinguished by its deep content. “The New Eloise” was studied with unflagging attention by such demanding thinkers and literary artists as N. G. Chernyshevsky and L. N. Tolstoy. Tolstoy said about Rousseau's novel: "This wonderful book makes you think"